Assigjstob to kobebts and schaefer



I July 28, 1925,

D. E. WHITE LOCOMOTIVE CINDER PLANT 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 j'zd'gzifofif ,FQzfcdZW/Z D. E. WHITE LOCOMOTIVE CINDER I LANT 'July 28, 1925.

Filed March 10, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 D. E. WHITE LO GOMOTIVE CINDER PLANT July 28, 1925.

Filed March 10, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 July 28, 1925.

' D. E. WHITE LOCOMOTIVE CINDER PLANT Filed March 10, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented duty 28, 1925.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID E. WHITE, OF LA GRANGE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR '10 ROBERTS AND 'SCHAEFER COMPANY, 6F CHIOAGU, ILLINOIS, A CORPQRATICN OF ILLINOIS.

LOCOMOTIVE CINDEB, FLANT.

Application filed March 10, 1924. Serial No. 698,185.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that L DAVID E. WHITE, a citizen of the United States residing at La Grange, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful improvement in Locomotive Cinder Plants, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for simultaneously removing and disposing of the cinders of a plurality of locomotives, with maximum speed and case. In railroad yards where locomotives are being handled, it is important to be able quickly and simply to remove the cinders from a locomotive and to handle a number of locomotives at once. The purpose of this invention is to provide a simple, cheap, compact and safe means for removing and depositing the cinders o't locomotives which shall avoid the risks and disadvantages of the familiar open, waterlilled cinder pits, which are dangerous to the employees, npensive to install, expen sive and inefficient to operate and "astetul of space. I illustrate my invention in the accompanying drzm irgs wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation with parts in section;

Figure 2 is an end view of the device shown in Figure 1 Figure 3 is aplan view;

Figure i: is a section on the line ll-4 of Figure l; 7

Figure is a plan view of a variant form;

Figure 6 is a side elevation with parts in section: and

Figure 7 is Figure 6.

Like parts are indicated by like symbols throughout the specification and drawings.

A is any suitable tower or elevated structure herein diagrammatically illustrated as having the foundations A the vertical frame members A and the transverse frame members A a i Mounted at the top of the tower is the chute B terminating in the reduced portion or spout B having hinged to the end a terminal spout element B The spout may be rigidly secured to the top of the tower A and may be supported by the supl-emental braces 1-3 B extending outwardly from the tower and the cross support B which is associated with the vertical support B supporting the outer and lower end B of the a section on the line 7-7 of chute. B is any suitable upwardly and outwardly extending brace or support upon the end of which is mounted the pulley B about which passes the cable 13, one end of which is secured to the outer end of the hinged chute element B The opposite end o:t the cable B, which passes about the pulley B is provided with the counter weights 13. Preferably the weight of the chute B and the counterweights B balance and any suitable means may be provided for raising and lowering the-hinged chute ele ment B C is a cinder car track upon which may be herein shown as located between the tracks C and although obviously I do not limit myself to any specific location of the tower or support provided that the structure is suitably located and supported to carry out my purpose.

The tracks C C are each provided with cinder pits D D at opposite sides of the tower A. These pits may be of any suitable construction, but are herein shOWn as comprising a slanting bottom'D vertical sides D hoppers D and gates D hinged therein, which may be open and shut by any suitable actuating means with the outer opening levers D Each pair of cinder pits is connected by inclined curved run-ways D which curve or incline together to form a letter Y, and terminate in a sharply inclined wall I) located substantially mid-way between the traclrs C and C D is any suit able water connection for wetting down red hot cinders and coals.

Extending upwardly from the incline D to the top of the tower A. are the track beams E which support in any suitable manner the track flanges E The track beams are herein shown as cooling to an apex as at E adjacent the top of the tower and just beneath the hoisting housing E in which any suitable hoisting machinery may be located. The tracks E leave the track beams E adjacent the top of the hoist and join in a relatively horizontal track section E Any suitable form of track may be used, and it may be secured to the track beams in. any suitable way, but 1 illustrate in Fig. ure 4 a crosssection illustrating a practical track arrangement which has proved satisfactory in actual use. The horizontal. track. section E passes directly over the upper or hopper portion of the chute B. The track E is provided with a switch E from which extend branches E, E beneath the cinder hoppers D The track members E may be supported by the structural elements E outwardly extending from the foundations A and thetower A.

Any suitable power plant may be provided situated at any suitable place, but is herein illustrated as situated in thehoisting housing E T illustrate, for example, an electric drum hoist G about which passes the cable G each end of the cable being secured to a cinder bucket G of the shape herein shown with opposed sides G and G inclined in relation to each other and a bottom G perpendicular tothe outer side G Upon the inclined side are mounted two pairs of wheels 1: G the axle supporting the wheels G being of less length than the distance between the track beams E and the axle G of the wheels 13 being of greater length than the distance between the tracks E. Thus when the bucket reaches the top of the beams E, the lower wheels G ride upwardly along thetr-ack beams, while the up per wheel's G ride along the horizontal track E the etl ect being to tilt and dump the bucket, as shown in Figure 1. Thus when the bucket leaves the top of the track, it is tilted in the position shown at the top of Figure l. The third pair of wheels G co-operates with the wheels G in supportingthe bucket upright upon the lower track extensions beneath; the cinder hoppers, as shown at the bottom of Figure 1. p

it will be understood that the length of the cable G and; the weight of the two buckets is such that the buckets balance each other and that when one bucket is dumping at the top of the tower the other is positioned beneath one or the other of the cinder hoppers.

VVhil'e I have illustrated herein a cinder chute which. is lined against rotation about a vertical axis, I do not limit myself to this type. I illustrate herein two chutes erte-n-l ing outwardly from the tower in opposite sides to deliver cinders to a plurality of tracks, but I may employ a single chute and cinder track. It will be also realized that while I have described this device as a cinder p ant, it might also be used to deliver coal, the coal being dropped to the cinder hopoers from the bottom of the cool car and d ed to the locomotive upon the track C. in the variant form shown in Figures 5,

6 and. 7, I illustrate a cinder car supporting track K and four parallel tracks K K K K adapted to support locomotives during decinde-ring. K is any suitable tower structure herein shown as projecting upwardly between the tracks K and K L, L are track beams mounted on an incline upon said tower and having mounted thereon tracks L terminating in outwardly curved sections la. The tracks L pass downwardly alongthe inclined cinder pit wall and extend laterally along the bottom 01' the cinder pit. The end of the rail may be ire-curved as at if to overlie the horizontal section of the rails L L is the opposed end wall of the cinder pit. It will be seen that the cinder pit passes beneath all four oi? the tracks K K K", K along an axis transverse to the axis of said tracl s.

Underlying each of said tracks are hoppers M similar to those already described, and being provided with gates M and any suitable gate levers M Adapted to ride on said tracks. L and if is the single dump bucket havin an inclined side 0 having approximately the inclination of the tracks L The dump bucket is provided with two pairs of wheels O, k 4 on the bottom of the bucxet and a single pair of wheels adjacent the top of the inclined side 0 of the is any su'able hoisting cable bucket. it extending about the sheave from the top of the tracks ii and descending thence to any suitable hoist 0 the details of which form no part of the present invention, and are not herein illustrated. C is an inclined wheel on 'ng stop projecting upwardly and outwardly and along the beams L 0 is any suital dump bailie plate adapted to direct the cinders into the underlying cinder cars.

Vfhile l have illustrated an operative and QfiiC-l'fillt device, l do not limit myself to the details herein shown and it will be re that many chann' s mi number, size, shape and disposition of parts and in the relation and location of the hop; pers and the tower and tracks without departing tram the spirit of my invention.

The use and operation of my invention are as follows:

It has been in the past cnston'iary to provide large open cinder dumps which are frequently kept full of water. which take up a great deal of space, which are very expensive to install, and which risk the lives of the employees who are not intrequently drowned in the open pits into which they sometimes tall, particularly at night. The open pits take up valuable space and the removal oi cinders therefrom is inconvenient and expensive, Therefore, in or der to avoid these various disadvantages, I have provided ausimple, compact, cheapht be made in the ly constructed locomotive decindering plant which has the additional advantage of being adaptable on emergency tor the loading of coal, although it is constructed with a view particularly to decindering a num ber of locomotives at once or in rapid succession.

Taking, for example, Figure 3, I illustrate four tracks, two upon which the cinder or ash cars may be spotted, the other two tracks upon which locomotives may be spotted. Under ordinary conditions but a single cinder track and chute is necessary. Beneath the two locomotive tracks I place two pairs of cinder receiving hoppers, with the requisite gates in the bottom thereof. Extending from the bottoms of these hoppers are tracks, which join, at a switch beneath the locomotive track level, with a track that passes upwardly to the top of a tower or chute. Mounted on the top of the tower is any suitable material delivering mechanism, herein shown as a chute, adapted to deliver the cinders to a track other than the track upon which the locomotives are spotted. I may increase the capacity of the tower by providing a pair of such hoisting tracks, on opposite sides of the tower, and I increase the eiiiciency of operation by balancing the buckets or cars which ride upon the hoisting tracks. I can spot four locomotives at once and discharge their cinders into the cinder hoppers, the hoppers being made, if desired, of suflieient size to take the ashes or cinders from more than one locomotive. When the hoppers are filled, or when it is desired to empty them and after the cinders have been watered down in the usual manner I spot a cinder bucket beneath the particular cinder hopper I wish to empty and open the hopper gates and discharge the cinders into the bucket. When either bucket is being so filled the opposite bucket is at the upward extremity of its travel in the dumping position over the hopper end of the chute.

When the first mentioned bucket is filled with the cinders, I actuate the hoisting mechanism, which serves to carry it up to the top of the tower and dump it while at the same time carrying the other bucket into position beneath one or the other of the hoppers situated on the opposite side of the tower. The process of dumping the alternate hoppers may be continuous orsubstantially continuous, locomotives being spotted over the hoppers, depositing their load of cinders, and passing on, while each cinder bucket receives the load alternately from one or the other of the two cinder hoppers which it serves.

In the form shown in Figures 5, 6 and 7,'l show a cinder track and a plurality ol parallel locomotive tracks with a tower between the cinder track and the locomotive tracks. This tower is provided with an inclined dumping track If terminating in the outwardly curved section The dumping bucket may be aligned beneath any one of the foul hoppers M and .may receive its load therefrom. The bucket is prevented from overturning in response to any unevenness of load by the overlying tracks L which in combination with the tracks L engage both the tops and the bottoms of the wheels and O lVhen the bucket is drawn upwardly along the tower, the wheels 0 and O are in contact with the tracks L but the length of the axles of the respective pairs of wheels is such that while the wheels ride up on the inclined element 0 the wheels 0 pass therethrough along the curved section L and the dumping bucket is tilted into the dumping position shown in dotted lines in Figure 6.

It will be understood that the size of the dumping hoppers may be such as to hold a load of cinders from a plurality of locomotives and the cinder bucket may be of such size as to take the cinders from a plurality of hoppers. In any case, the cin der bucket is passed beneath the locomotive tracks and receives the cinders discharged from the hoppers, and removes them laterally away from the locomotive tracks and carries them to the dumping point above the cinder track and there discharges them into the cinder car or any other suitable cinder disposing means.

I claim:

1. An installation for handling materials comprising a pair of adjacent tracks, a plurality of hoppers beneath each track, said hoppers on the separate tracks being aligned with each other, a third track adjacent said pair of tracks, a tower between said pair of tracks located between said pairs of hoppers, conveying means for conveying material from each of the hoppers to the top of the tower, and a chute adapted to deliver material from said tower over said third track.

2. An installation for handling materials comprising a pair of adjacent tracks, a plurality of hoppers beneath each track, said hoppers on the separate tracks being aligned with each other, a third track adjacent said pair of tracks, a tower between said pair of tracks located between said pairs of hoppers, conveying means for conveying material from each of the hoppers to the top of the tower comprising in part a forked track for each pair of hoppers having a branch 125 underlying each hopper of the pair, and a chute adapted to deliver material from said tower over said third track.

3. An installation for handling materials, comprising a pair of adjacent tracks, a pluconveying means for conveying, material from each of the hoppers to the top of the tower comprising in part a forked track for each pair of hoppershaving branch underlying each hopper ot the pair, and a chute adapted to deliver material from said tower over said third track, and buckets adapted to travel upon said tracks and means for actuating them, the, bucket upon one track balancing the bucket upon the other.

41;. An installation for iandling materials, comprising a pair of adjacent tracks, a plurality of hoppers beneath each track, said hoppers on the separate tracks being aligned with each other, third track adjacent said pair of tracks, a tower between said pair o l tracks located between said pairs of hoppers, conveying means for conveying material from each of the hoppers to the top of the tower comprising in part "forked track for each pair of hoppers having a branch underlying each hopper or" the pair, and a chute adapted to deliver material from said tower over said third track, and bucketsadapted to travel uponsaid tracks and means for actuating them, the bucket upon one track balancing the bucket upon the other and driving means for said buckets located at the top of said tower.

In a locomotive cinder and coaling plant, a plurality of locomotive receiving tracks, hoppers, positioned beneath said tracks, adapted to receive the cinders discharged trom said locomotives, conveying track's positioned beneath said hoppers, buckets travelling therealong, adapted to receive the cinders discharged from said hoppers and to elevate them to a level substantially higher than the level of said locomotive tracks, a cinder car track located adjacent the locomotive receiving tracks and means tor conveying and depositing therened mi n? above the cinder-s transported by said conveying means.

(3. In a locomotive cinder and coaling plant, a plurality of locomotive receiving tracks, a plurality of hoppers positioned be neath each ol said tracks, adapted to receive the cinders discharged "from said: locomotives, conveying means positioned be rality of locomotives, receiving said Cinders at a level beneath that of the locomotives, directly conveying said cinders to a level substantially above that oithe locomotives and discharging them by gravity above a movable container positioned at-a'point laterally out oi line with the axis of movement oi said locomotives.

8. 'lhe process of decindering locomotives and of'disposing of the cinders therefrom, which consists in subsi'gantially simultaneously discharging the cindersfrom a plu rality oi locomotives positioned: along sub.- stantially parallel laterally spaced axes of movement, receiving said cinders at a'level beneath that of the locomotives, vdirectly conveying said einders to a level substantially above that of the locomotives, and discharging them by gravity above a movable container positioned at a point laterally out ot line with the axes of movement of'said locomotives. i,

Signed at Chicago, county of Cook'and State of Illinois, this 1st day of March, 1924:.

DAVID E. WHITE,- 

